The Quagga
Extinct South African Species
Background of the Quagga
The quagga (Equus quagga) is a recently extinct mammal, closely related to horses and zebras. It was a yellowish-brown zebra with stripes only on its head, neck and foreboday. The quagga was native to desert areas of the African continent until it was exterminated in the wild in the 1870s. The last captive quaggas died in Europe in the 1880s.
The name Quagga has been adopted from the Hottentot speaking indigenous people of the South African interior. 'Quagga' is an imitation of the animal's call, which it shared with the other plain zebras.
Causes of Extinction
The Quagga went extinct because it was ruthlessly hunted down for meat and leather by South African farmers, also they were seen by the settlers as competitors, like other wild grass eating animals, mainly sheep and goats.